Driving axle construction



1937- T. v. BUCKWALTER ET AL 2,089,016

DRIVING AXLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 1, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 3, 1937-T. v. BUCKWALTER r AL ,016

DRIVING AXLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 1, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 I Z2241l0 if: 40 NIVENTOES. .v a

THE/R Fh-ToeA/EKs,

3 T. v. BUCKWALTER ET AL 2,089,016

DRIVING AXLE CONSTRUCTION FiledDeo. 1, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet s //V l/ENTOR6 Patented Aug. 3, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- ff DRIVING AXLECONSTRUCTION Tracy V. Buckwalter and Joel Hektner, Canton, Ohio,assignors to The Timken Roller Bearing Company, Canton, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application December 1, 1933, Serial No. 700,464

2 Claims. (01. 74-423) This invention relates to driving axleconstrucdisposed transversely of and offset vertically from tions ofself-propelled vehicles, particularly the axle I and is operativelyconnected to said geared locomotives. It has for its principal obaxle bygearing, preferably skew or hypoid bevel nets to provide an encloseddrive gear unit for gearing, comprising a drive gear or pinion 5 theaxle that will permit the drive shaft, the press-fitted on said driveshaft and intermeshing 5 pinion thereon and the bearings therefor to bewith a, large driven gear press-fitted on said axle. mounted on anddismounted from the axle as a The drive shaft 4 is preferably locatedabove unit, facilitate inspection of the parts, resist the. axle I andextends through the housing A torque reactions imposed on the unit andprovide with one end journaled in a double taper roller for simplicityand cheapness of construction and bearing mounted in an opening Iprovidedthere- 10 compactness of design. The invention consists in 'forin the adjacent side wall of said housin the driving axle construction,and in the combi- Said double taper roller bearing comprises two nationsand arrangements of parts hereinafter Series Of co cal bea g rollers 8,cohical inner described and claimed. raceway member 9 for each series ofrollers and In the accompanying drawings, which form a doubly coned cupor outer raceway member 5 part of this specification, and wherein likesym- III for both series of rollers that has a loose fit bols refer tolike parts wherever they occur, in the opening I provided therefor inthe housing Fig. 1 is a plan view of a driving axle con- A. The twocones 9 are p ess-fitted on the drive struction embodying our invention,shaft 4 with the inner cone disposed in abutting Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section through the relation to a shoulder provided therefor onsaid axle, showing the driving gear unit in end eleshaft, with a sp r nll in rpos we n 20 vation, the adjacent ends of said cones and with asuit- 1 ,.3 is vertical section through t driving able oil seal orbaflie plate l2 interposed between gear unit, the section being takenlongitudinally the outer end of the outer cone and the inner end of thedrive shaft on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1, of the hub 13 of a suitableuniversal joint mem- Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the driving eOu e d of e bearing ec v gear unit, the section being takenlongitudinally p in s s d by means of an a u a 01 of the axle on theline 4-4 in Fig. 1, sure plate l4, which snugly fits the hub I3 of Fig.5 is a part plan and part horizontal secthe universal joint and isremovably secured to tlonal view of said unit, the housing by means ofcap screws I5.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section on the line T e bevel pinion 5 islocated near the opposite 30 6-6 in Fig. 4, end of the drive shaft; andtheportion of the Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showing the hou A adacent to said op s en r ed. connection between one of the'torque rodsand as at accommodate S p The the casing of the gear unit, housing isprovided in the wall opposite the wall Fig. 8 is a vertitil section-0nth fine 8 s containing the bearing receiving opening] with in Fig. '7,an opening I! through which the drive shaft, Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryplan view illustrating the bearings therefor an t pinion thereen; a theconnection between the torque rod and the be inserted in and removedfrom S housingtruck bolster; and The opening I1 is closed by an annularclosure Fig. 1015 a vertical longitudinal section on the plate that iremovably secured t s h u 40 line Ill-l ll in Fig. 9. y .ing by means ofcap screws IS. -.The annular Referring to the accompanying drawings, oclosure plate l8 snugly fits the hub 20 of a suitdriving gear unit isshown in connection with one able universal joint m b i a to the 9 ofthe diiving axles l of a locomotive truck, of versal member I at p p eend'offihe t i 1 shaft i 1 a a which on y the cross frame member orbolster The drive Shaft is supported in the housing A 2 is shown. Saidaxle is provided nearits ends I a with wheels 3 and beyond said wheelswith at the opposite ends of the bevel pin on thereon journals inadapted to cooperate with suitable bymea'ns taper rollerbeanngs whlchServe arb t h S to take care of radial and end thrust loads on 501mm g 3z al We gear i saidshaft. The innermost bearing comprises a m m on e a mmf 't the Wheels .conical cup or outer bearing member 2| seated 3 e i. ecomprises a sectlonaal housmg in an opening provided therefor in abracket 2-2 n 'A W thJn which is enclosed the entire driv that dependsfrom. the housing adjacent to the ihg meehenlsm Q Said axle- S l g mhdinneriend of the pinion 5, a cone or inner bear- 55.anism comprises .amaindriveshaft l that ing member 23 press-fitted onthe shaft 4 inabutting relation to said pinion and conical bearing rollers 24interposed between said cup and said cone. The bearing is adjusted bymeans of an annular plate or washer 25 interposed be tween the large,end of the cup 2| and an annular shoulder on the bearing supportingbracket 22.

The bearing at the outer end oi the pinion 5 comprises a conical cup orouter bearing member 26 seated in an annular recess provided therefor inthe end closure member l8, a cone or inner bearing member 21press-fitted on the drive shaft 4 in abutting relation to the outer endof said pinion and a series of conical bearing rollers 28 interposedbetween said cup and said cone- This bearing is adjusted by means of anannular plate or washer 29 interposed between the outer end of thebearing cup and a shoulder formed by the cup receiving recess in theclosure member l8. An annular oil retaining plate 30 is secured to theinner face of the closure member in overlapping relation to the innerends of the cup and bearing rollers; and an annular oil retaining plate.or baflie 30a is sleeved on the shaft 4 between the cone and the hub 20of the universal joint member.

Interposed between the axle I and the openings 3| provided therefor inthe housing or casing A are antifriction bearings, preferably taperroller bearings. Each of said bearings comprises a conical cup or outerbearing member 32 removably mounted in the axle receiving opening 3|, acone or inner bearing member 33 pressfitted on the axle in abuttingrelation to the hub of the large bevel gear 6 thereon and a series ofconical bearing rollers 34 interposed between said cup and said cone.Each axle receiving opening 3| is closed by means of an annular closureplate 35 that is removably secured by cap screws 36 40 to the end wallof the housing. Each bearing is adjusted by means of a series of thinshims 31 interposed between the closure member 35 and the end of thehousing. The closure member 35 snugly fits the axle and an annular oilseal or 45 baflle plate 31 is mounted on said axle between the outer endof the bearing cone and the adjacent face of said closure member.

In order to permit assembly, disassembly and inspection of the parts,the housing A is made 50 in two sections, an upper or main section 38and a lower cap or cover section 39. The upper housing section .38encloses and supports the drive shaft, its bearings and its bevelpinion, whereby all of these parts are removable from the axle 55 withsaid upper housing. section as a unit. The upper or main section 38includes the greater portion of the entire housing A and is providedwith an opening disposed entirely below the axle axis; and the lowersection 39 constitutes a cap 60 or cover for said opening. The main andthe cover section have complementary arcuate seats in their end wallsthat together constitute the openings 3| for the cups 32 of the bearingsthat support the housing on the axle. The gaps be- 65 tween the ends ofthe arcuate seats of the main housing section 38 must be large enough topermit the housing supporting bearings without their cups 32 to passtherethrough. In the particular form illustrated, the abutting faces ofthe main 70 and cover sections of the housing are provided withcooperating flanges that are secured together by bolts 39a; and saidflanges extend along diverging radial lines, whereby the cover sectionhas the form of a sector of said'housing. By this 75 arrangement, whenit is desired to. rem'ove the upper housing section 38 from the axle,the sector-shaped lower cover section 39 is removed, the end closuremembers for the housing supporting bearings are detached from thehousing, and the cups 32 of said bearings are then removed from theopenings 3|, thereby permitting the upper section, together with theentire mechanism therein, to be lifted off the axle due to the gaps leftin the lower portion of the bearing receiving openings 3| by the removalof the sectorshaped lower cap section 38 of said housing.

Torque reactions imposed on the housing are resisted by a pair ofvertically spaced parallel torque rods 40 that connect one end of thehousing A with the crossframe member or bolster 2 of the truck above andbelow the axle axis. The torque rods are connected by suitable universaljoints with the axle housing and the truck bolster. The connectionbetween each torque rod 40 and the housing A comprises a block 4|interposed between the vertically spaced branches of a yoke 42, which isformed in the adjacent end of said rod and is loosely interposed betweena pair of vertically disposed horizontally spaced lugs 43 on saidhousing. The block 42 is pivotally secured to the lugs 43 for verticalswinging movement therebetween by means of a horizontal pin 44; and thetorque rod is pivotally secured to said block for horizontal swingingmovement by means of a pin 45 disposed at right angles to the pin 44.The connection between the other end of each torque rod 40 and the truckbolster 2 comprises a block 41 secured by means of an upright pin 48between the vertically spaced branches of a yoke 49 formed on said endof said rod, and an extension of said rod in the form of a rod 50provided with a yoke 5| whose horizontally spaced branches looselystraddle the yoke 49 and the block 41 and are secured to the latter by ahorizontal pin 52. The torque rod extension 50 extends through a box 53that is bolted or otherwise removably secured to laterally extendinglugs 54 that project from the side of the bolster 2. Sleeved on thetorque rod extension 50 between a pair of collars 55 sleeved thereon isa coil spring 56, the pressure of which may be regulated by means of anut 51 on the end of said extension. The coil spring 56, together withthe collars 55 at the opposite ends thereof, are enclosed within the box53 with said collars bearing against shoulders provided thereforadjacent to the rod receiving openings at the opposite ends of said box.By the arrangement described, the rods operate to yieldably resisttorque reactions imposed on the housing of the driving gear unit, thesprings tend-' ing to absorb such reactions and cushion the shock. Thepivotal connections between the torque rods and the bolster and housingpermit limited relative movement of said housing and bolster in bothhorizontal and vertical directions; and said torque rods act aftermanner of parallel links to resist tilting of the housing during thevertical movement thereof.

The hereinbefore described driving gear unit has numerous advantages. Itprovides a housing for all of the driving mechanism; it permits thedrive shaft, the drive pinion thereon and the bearings therefor to bequickly and .easily removed from the axle without dismounting theseparts from the housing; and it permits the drive shaft, the pinion, thedouble taper bearing and the cones and rollers of the two singlebearings to be removed from the housing as a unit. The use of thehyperboloidal bevel gear driving con-' nection between the drive shaftand the axle enables said shaft to clear said axle; and the torque-rodconnections between the housing and the truck frame operate to yieldablyresist and cushion'the torque reactions on the housing and, at the sametime, permit limited vertical and horizontal movement of the housingwith the axle. The placing of the torque rods above and below the axleserves to balance the forces in said rods and thus relieves the axle ofbending stresses which cause objectionable pressure on the outboardjournal or driving boxes. Such spacing of the torque rods also preventsendwise tilting of the drive shaft when relative vertical movementoccurs between the frame and axle, thereby avoiding fluctuations in therotative motion of said drive shaft. The cushion connections between theframe and the torque rods serve not only to absorb shock therebetween,but they also tend to equalize the distribution of the power between thedrive shafts of a plurality of driving units.

Obviously, the hereinbefore described construction admits ofconsiderable modification without departing from the invention.Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the precise arrangement shownand described.

Reference is hereby made to our copending applications Serial No.119,759 filed January 9, 1937 and'Serial No. 119,760 filed January 9,1937. for subject matter divided out of the present application.

What we claim is:

1. In a construction of the kind wherein agear housing is mounted on anaxle and has av drive shaft. therein disposed crosswise of said axle andprovided on one side of said axle with a pinion that intermeshes with agear rotatable with said axle, single taper roller bearings locatedentirely on said side of said axle for supporting said drive shaft insaid housing at opposite ends of said pinion and for resisting endthrust of said pinion in either direction, and a double taper rollerbearing for supporting saiddrive shaft in said housing on the other sideof said axle, said double taper roller bearing including a bearing cuploosely mounted in said housing for preventing end thrust from beingtransmitted to said housing by said bearing.

2. In a construction of the kind wherein a gear housing is mounted on anaxle and has a drive shaft therein disposed crosswise of said axle andprovided on one side of said axle with a pinion that intermeshes with agear rotatable with said axle, single roller bearings for supportingsaid drive shaft in said housing at opposite ends of said pinion, and adouble roller bearing for supporting said drive shaft in said housing onthe other side of said axle, each of said roller bearings including aninner raceway member pressfitted on said drive shaft and said doubleroller bearing also including an outer raceway member having a floatingfit in said housing, said housing having a seat therein for theinnermost single roller bearing of larger diameter than the diameter ofsaid outer raceway member of said

